Normally in Windows 11, the task of creating a new folder is simple and can be done in seconds. You just have to right-click over a blank space on your desktop or in File Explorer and select ‘New’ and then select ‘Folder’.

Although, sometimes you might encounter an error that will prevent you from creating a new folder. It can happen in different ways, for example, you might not see a ‘New’ option when you right-click over a blank space, or even if you do, nothing happens. If you are experiencing any such error, this guide will take you through multiple methods that you can use to get around or eliminate this issue quickly and easily.

Use Keyboard Shortcut to Create a New Folder

If you are unable to create a new folder by the usual method, you can try the keyboard shortcut as a workaround. The keyboard shortcut for creating a new folder is CRTL+Shift+n.

To try this out, open File Explorer by pressing Windows+e on your keyboard or by searching for it in Windows search.

Navigate to any random directory and then press CTRL+Shift+n on your keyboard. If the shortcut worked you will a newly created folder will appear at the bottom of the directory and you will be prompted to rename it.

Restart Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is at the center of anything related to the Windows interface. Thus, if you are experiencing issues like being unable to create a new folder, one of the first fixes you should consider is to simply restart the Windows Explorer. Restarting Windows Explorer is quick and easy and you do not even have to restart your computer.

Start by opening up the Task Manager by searching for it in the Start Menu search and selecting it from the search results.

Once the Task Manager window comes up, scroll down to the very bottom until you see the ‘Windows Explorer’ process. Highlight it by clicking on it and then click on the Restart button on the bottom-right side of the window.

After you click on Restart, you will see your Taskbar disappear and then reappear again. Now you can try creating a new folder and see if it works.

Create a folder using the Command Prompt Interface

If you are unable to create a folder even by using keyboard shortcuts, you can try to create a folder using the Command Prompt window. The command that you have to execute to create a new folder is:

mkdir

To start, open up the Command Prompt interface by searching for it in the Start Menu search and then selecting it from the search results.

Once the Command Prompt window appears, just type the following command in the command line and press enter. It will give you a list of folders that are present in the current directory. 

dir

Now, type the following command and replace the ‘testfolder’ part with a name that you want to give to the new folder and press Enter. You have to assign a name for the new folder, otherwise, it will not work. 

mkdir testfolder

After that, if you execute the ‘dir’ command once again, you will see the newly created folder is on the list. This is how you create a new folder using the Command Prompt interface.

Do a Clean Boot on Your Computer

A clean boot simply means starting Windows with only the essential services and drivers. If you are able to create a new folder after performing a clean boot, it means any application or background process might be causing this error.

To perform a clean boot, first, open up the Run window by pressing Windows+r on your keyboard. Once the Run window appears, type ‘msconfig’ inside the command line and then press Enter.

A window will appear labeled as ‘System Configuration’. From there, switch to the ‘Services’ tab.

Now, check the box which says ‘Hide all Microsoft services’. This will make sure that all the essential services which the Windows OS needs to run are hidden.

After that, click on the ‘Disable all’ button and then click on ‘Ok’. This will disable all the services that are not necessary.

Now, switch over to the ‘Startup’ tab and click on the blue ‘Open Task Manager’ text.

The Task Manager window will appear. From Here, disable every single Startup item by highlighting them one by one and then clicking ok ‘Disable’.

Now the setup for a clean boot is done. All that is left to do is to restart your computer and create a new folder to see if this method worked.

Look for Broken or Corrupted Files

If you have corrupted files on your hard drive or your solid-state drive, they can sometimes interfere with the system and prevent you from performing various actions on your computer, such as creating a new folder. you can use the System File Checker command to check if any such files are present in your system.

First, type ‘Command Prompt’ in the Start Menu search, right-click on it from the search results, and then select ‘Run as Administrator’.

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After the Command Prompt window appears, type the following command inside the command line and then press Enter. You will see that the scan will start automatically. It does not take much time but depending on your hardware the scan can take somewhere between 5 to 10 minutes to complete. 

sfc /scannow

After the scan completes, it will automatically detect and repair corrupted or broken files present on your system. Restart your computer once and try creating a new folder.

Disable Controlled Folder Access

The Controlled Folder Access is one of many security features offered by the Windows Security application. Essentially, this feature blocks malicious third-party applications from making unauthorized changes to your files and folders. This feature can often get buggy and stop the user from making any changes.

To disable this setting, first, you have to open up Windows Defender. To do that, type Windows Security in the Start Menu search and select it from search results.

After the ‘Windows Security’ window appears, click on the ‘Virus & threat protection’ from the left panel.

Now, scroll down on the right panel and click on the blue ‘Manage settings’ from the ‘Virus & threat protection’ section.

After that, scroll to the very bottom of the window and you will see ‘Controlled folder access’. Click on ‘Manage Controlled folder access’.

Now, you will see the toggle for the Controlled folder access setting. Set the toggle to ‘Off’. Now try to create a new folder in a random directory to see if this method works.

Make Changes to the System Properties Settings

To make changes to the System Properties settings, first, open up the Run window by pressing Windows+r on your keyboard. Once the Run window appears, type ‘sysdm.cpl’ inside the command line and then press Enter.

Once, the System Properties window appears, switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab.

From there, click on the ‘Settings…’ button under the Performance section.

Now, another window will appear labeled as ‘Performance option. In the Processor scheduling section make sure the toggle for ‘Adjust for best performance of:’ is set to ‘Programs’.

After that, click on the ‘Change…’ button from the Virtual memory section.

This will open up the Virtual Memory window. From there look at the box with the text ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives’. If the box is checked, uncheck it. If the box is unchecked, then click on it to check it and then click on ‘OK’.

After you have made the changes, restart your computer and then try to create a new folder and check if the issue is resolved.

Use Registry Editor to fix Can’t Create a New Folder

If you don’t see the option to create a new folder when you right-click on desktop or file explorer, it can be fixed by tweaking registry files using the Registry Editor.

First, open up the Registry Editor by looking for it in Windows search and selecting it from search results.

Once the Registry Editor window appears, copy & paste the following command inside the address bar and press Enter.

Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

After that, right-click on ‘ContexMenuHandlers’ from the left panel, select ‘New’, and then select ‘Key’. Rename the newly created key to ‘New’.

Now, double-click on the ‘Default’ string.

A dialog box will appear called ‘Edit String’. Put the following value inside the ‘Value data’ text box and click on ‘OK’

{D969A300-E7FF-11d0-A93B-00A0C90F2719}

Now, all that is left to do is to restart your computer and check if the ‘New’ option is available when you right-click on Desktop or inside the File Explorer.

This is how you revolve the ‘Can’t Create a New Folder’ issue on your Windows 11 computer.